ROY’S OF NEWPORT BEACH
Address:
453 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
Phone:
(949) 640-7697
Event:
Chalk Hill Wine Dinner, Monday, June 4, 6:30 p.m., $100 all-inclusive. Reservations imperative
TAPS FISH HOUSE & BREWERY
Address:
101 E. Imperial Blvd. (in the Birch Street Promenade), Brea
Phone:
(714) 257-0101
Event:
Cigar and Johnnie Walker Dinner, Tuesday, June 5, 6:30 p.m., $75 all-inclusive. Reservations imperative
GEMMELL’S
Address:
34471 Golden Lantern, Dana Point
Phone:
(949) 234-0063
Particulars:
New restaurant serving spontaneous food with French accents. Lunch entr & #233;es $4.95 to $16.95. Dinner entr & #233;es $11.95 to $27.95.
TAPS Slates Cigars and Johnnie Walker; Byron Gemmell Opens Dana Point Bistro
For the next two weeks I will be in France, in the Loire Valley, hoisting glasses of Sancerre, Vouvray, Anjou and Muscadet, so there are some terrific wine dinners here that I will miss. Let’s make a deal. If some of my readers will share with me, via e-mail, their experiences and perceptions of these dinners while I am away, I will tell you the highlights of my wine trip in this column when I return.
Meantime, I certainly hope some of you will be at Roy’s of Newport Beach to enjoy the wines of Chalk Hill and the matching menu that chef Chris Garnier has put together. The special guest for the evening will be Yves Sauboua, Chalk Hill’s estate wines sommelier.
The evening will commence with a reception at 6:30 p.m., and dinner is scheduled for 7 p.m. A sampler plate of the restaurant’s signature Asian appetizers pairs with the 1999 Pinot Gris. The 1998 EVS Chardonnay is matched with herb-seared large sea scallops with lobster trufffle salad and foie gras butter. Segueing into the red wine category, prosciutto-style Hudson Valley duck salad comes next, as does the highly rated ’97 Merlot. Then, it’s the 1995 Cabernet with medallions of Kobe beef, and finally what sounds like a decadent dessert, chocolate fantasy sampler, crowns the dinner. Of course, you will have coffee or tea served with that, but I would save a few sips of the Cabernet as it belongs with chocolate as much as it does red meat.
I assume that the cost of truffles and Kobe beef gives a hint to the quality of the food that Chris considers appropriate for these wines. Seating is quite limited; call in your reservation now.
Cigar Dinner Set
A unique Cigar Dinner will unfold in Brea at TAPS Fish House & Brewery. This one will feature specially selected cigars with each course and some of the food will be matched with Johnnie Walker Scotch.
Here’s the plan of chef Craig Rouse: Thai chicken on skewers and stuffed phyllo shells (with chorizo and cheese) will be served with a Johnnie Walker Red Label cocktail as a first course. Then, baked tartlets with caramelized leeks, mushrooms, scallops and Swiss cheese will be sided by Johnnie Walker Black Label. For the entr & #233;e, Johnnie Walker Gold and Blue Label, plus wine, will accompany the baked stuffed veal chop with jumbo lump crab and roasted Roma tomato and pancetta ragout. Alas, there’s another chocolate dessert on the horizon. This chocolate tower (genoise laced with espresso and coffee liqueur, chocolate mousse and crushed gingersnaps, and surrounded with espresso cr & #269;me anglaise) should go nicely with the Grand Marnier 150 liqueur they’ll be pouring.
I would think this interesting meal could suffice as an early Father’s Day gift.
Byron Gemmell Is Back
The name Byron Gemmell reaches way back in the history of OC dining. He was merely a very talented young kid when, in the early 1980s, he stepped into the kitchen of La Cuisine of Newport, at that time our preeminent French restaurant, and almost immediately found himself written about in Gourmet magazine. Caroline Bates, who still does the West Coast restaurant reviews, appreciated his natural ability as a chef. When La Cuisine closed after a good run, he worked quietly on menus in other restaurants and then opened his own, with a partner, on Bristol Street. Unfortunately, the alliance did not work out and after a two-year run, the partnership was dissolved and the restaurant changed hands.
Now, Gemmell’s in Dana Point is brand new. Taking over the space that recently housed Pierre’s, Byron and his brothers (one has cooked by his side for two decades) have renovated and lightened up the space nestled amid the boutiques at the harbor. I like the fresh, crisp French bistro look they’ve given it. Bright, happy colors dominate the intimate space, which seats 40 inside and 30 on a covered patio.
Some of the food that got him recognized by Gourmet is on the new menu. I am already asking him if he’ll serve his seasonal cream of fresh pea soup as a special since it is not listed on the carte, because it is still the best I’ve ever had. He will indulge us occasionally with it. But, the onion soup is always there, which he’s always managed to make as passionately as any French chef. Other foods on this menu I am already familiar with include the fluffy duck mousse, Byron’s house-smoked salmon that has always been truly delicious, his signature thyme-infused rack of lamb and the classic French roasted duck.
Because this is a bistro, the menu is not huge. However, there are several steaks, a nod to pasta, fresh fish of the day, Maine lobster, and a couple of chicken dishes. At lunch, many of the dinner items are available. The salad section is also enhanced and there are several bistro-style sandwiches.
As I write, the beer and wine license has not yet arrived; you may want to call about that. Until then, you can bring your own bottle of wine or, barring that, there’s a small liquor and wine shop just two doors down.
